‘Little Hellions’ Makes For Chaotic Hook Shot Multiplayer Mayhem

Things get wild when four people start flinging trick hooks at one another, bouncing and hurling each other into hazards in ridiculous multiplayer game Little Hellions.

Torment keeps the lights on in Hell. It literally keeps the veil of darkness at bay. How do you generate torment, though? Flinging people into stuff that will hurt them seems to work pretty well. As an imp, your job is to use your Trick Hook to grab someone and toss them into something painful. If you manage to grab someone from the other side of the arena with it, you’ll drag them towards you and swap places. Usually, you’ll do so with enough momentum to fire them into lava, a speeding train, or an exploding pig that’s wandering by. Whoever doles out the most pain is the winner.

Technically, you don’t have to worry about the other four players. It’s the stage that will kill you. There’s lots of moving spiked walls, surprise flame gouts, and other nasty hazards that will take you out. There’s just as many tricky elements like springboards and one-way paths that add to the danger, forcing you to think creatively or deal with some unexpected side-effects of your actions. Thankfully, you’re able to parry most attacks with the right timing, which can save you in some dire moments. You just have to be ready to use that parry, which can be difficult when danger is coming from everywhere. Even dead players can still hurt you, even if they can’t win the match. Things never calm down, resulting in some absurd action that happens quickly.

Little Hellions constantly delights with the chaotic ways matches can turn around. A single Trick Shot at the right time, an unexpected hazard popping up, a stage mechanic sending you somewhere you don’t expect, or a parry at the final second made for some incredibly fun matches that left me and my friends howling. It’s just a blast, so if you are planning to have some friends over, it’s well worth grabbing this one for some tormenting fun.

Little Hellions is available now on Steam Early Access.

Joel Couture

Joel has been covering indie games for various sites including IndieGames.com, Siliconera, Gamasutra, Warp Door, CG Magazine, and more over the past seven years, and has written book-length studies on Undertale and P.T.. Joel is constantly on the lookout for digital experiences that push the boundaries of what games can be, and seeks to delve into the creative process, meanings, and emotion labor that goes into the work of artists worldwide.